4:51 p.m. Do Elena and Damon have any chance of happiness? “I don’t think anyone on the show gets to live happily ever after,” Welsey says. Julie Plec says that this year, they’re going to try to keep Damon and Elena happy, at least for a little while. “We’ll see how well we do with that,” she says. “I thought they were joking. Damon never gets the girl… You’ve got that whole thing. You’ve got that James Dean-y…” Somehalder says of discovering that Damon was Elena’s choice. “Dude, Don’t downplay the sexy blue eyes,” Wesley replies. “But it is Mystic Falls and essentially you can’t be that happy for that long,” Somerhalder says, describing his interaction with Elena as “sweet.” “Enjoy, buddy. I did it for three years and it gets exhausting. I’m so glad to be playing Silas. I’m so glad I didn’t get the girl,” Wesley tells Somerhalder, emphasizing he’s kidding.

4:55 p.m. “You actually told me early on and swore me to secrecy,” Wesley says of learning that he was going to be playing evil. He’s glad he gets to play dark without repeating the Ripper Years. They all agree, however, that they wish they could say “Ripper” like Joseph Morgan.

4:56 p.m. They were shooting until early this morning and there was a lot of blood and Somerhalder still has fake blood on her arm. He hasn’t cleaned off. Nina has cleaned off, but she says she thought about trying to go through security covered in blood.

4:56 p.m. Julie Plec suggests that Silas may be supplanted by a Bigger Bad at some point. “What? There’s nobody badder!” Wesley says. “This is incredible. It never ends. Just when you think you’re at the top of the food chain.

4:57 p.m. “She’s going to be lost and weak and insecure,” Dobrev says of how Katherine is going to handle being human. Apparently this will include Katherine getting her first cold and dealing with “green phlegm.” This is a major plotpoint of the early season? Green phlegm. “Katherine’s just the best vampire and worst human,” Dries says.

4:58 p.m. Elena is going to be going to college? Apparently? “Why are we pursing higher education? We’re all murderers. We can steal whatever we want. Why are we studying?” Wesley says. Dobrev wants to know what they’re studying, but Plec insists that vampires don’t need to worry about logistics.

5:00 p.m. Caroline wants to get Tyler to college so that they can be together. The crowd, however, seems to miss Klaus. “I really love going into Season 5 with this really fun energy and the idea of these vampire girls trying to get by in the human world,” Accola says, teasing that there are “plenty of friends” to be made at college, which could include men. “It’s the first time in CW history that there will be attractive men on a series,” Accola teases.

5:01 p.m. What’s up with Bonnie next season? Well, she’s dead. And the only person she can communicate with is Jeremy. Graham knows that people like “Beremy.” Sigh. “We’ll see how long she can keep the secret for if at all,” Graham. “To have only one person that you can connect with, it forces a sort of intimacy that we haven’t had before and I think it’ll be really interesting to see that evolve,” Graham says. “For her, it was the same thing she’s been doing the entire time,” Plec says of Bonnie’s ongoing sacrifices. “Seeing her come to terms with the loss of her own life will be part of her emotionally journey as well,” Plec warns.

5:04 p.m. Plec says that Jeremy’s resurrection is dealt with at the very beginning of the season and includes a lot of coaching from Elena.

5:04 p.m. Damon and Jeremy are apparently roomies as we start the season. “It’s Damon’s tutelage. It’s the only way to learn,” Somerhalder says.

5:06 p.m. How will the consumption of the cure impact things? “If I had to say the word ‘cure’ one more time, I was going to jump off of our stage building,” Somerhalder says. “And I love the band!”

5:06 p.m. We’re going to learn what made Silas like he is. Of course we are. Flashbacks!

5:07 p.m. Does Nina think it’s unfair that they gave the cure to somebody who wouldn’t appreciate it? “In the end, Katherine was such a nuisance and Elena just wanted to get the ultimate revenge and make her powerless,” Dobrev says. Ha. That question was from somebody who’s Team Katherine. Can I be Team Katherine? I didn’t know there was one.

5:08 p.m. Brazilian fan wants to rave about Nina’s performance last season, particularly fighting herself. “It’s crazy, but so much fun, especially in the finale, it felt kinda like an action movie,” Dobrev says, praising great crew members for keeping her energy up.

5:09 p.m. Do they think there will ever be a “Vampire Diaries” movie? They insist that they’ve been approaching every episode like a movie. “We give it everything we have,” Plec says. This season’s 11th episode will be the show’s 100th episode. “If I even breathe a word of it, it would be such a spoiler,” Plec says of that milestone episode. “As long as we get cake,” Nina says. “It’s going to be a nude, musical episode,” Somerhalder says. The crowd approves.

5:12 p.m. Does Dobrev prefer playing Katherine or Elena? “I love them for different reasons and I hate them for different reasons. I love them both,” Dobrev says. Katherine requires more hair and makeup time. “She wears too much makeup,” Dobrev says. “But she’s hot,” Somerhalder responds.

5:13 p.m. Will Klause be coming back? “Klaus went and got his own damn show and left us high and dry,” Somerhalder says. “Never say never, I would say. He’s going to have his hands full in New Orleans. The question is whether Caroline will have her hands full with Klaus in New Orleans,” Plec teases.

5:14 p.m. With Bonnie on The Other Side, we’ll get to see what The Other Side looks like. Lots of banter between Wesley and Somerhalder about reenacting the “Unchained Melody” scene from “Ghost.” “I’ll hold your clay,” Wesley says out of context.

5:15 p.m. A questioner is letting her 10-year-old sister watch the show.. The questioner has decided her sister can’t date until she’s in college. Wesley and Somerhalder agree that the sister should be allowed to date at a younger age to get experiences. Dobrev agrees that Elena would think the sister should date. This is… strange.

5:18 p.m. Will the the Tatia storyline be expanded? “Not at the moment, but it’s something that exists very deeply in our mythology,” Plec says. The challenge is that it involves backstory for characters who are no longer with us.

5:18 p.m. If they could bring back any character from the dead, who would it be? Most people seem to agree that Alaric is the answer, though Graham wants Grams back. “We’re all dead,” Somerhalder notes. “And a lot of people are coming back,” Dobrev says. Wesley, however, thinks that people are done coming back from The Other Side because the door is closed. He’s wrong. And witches can have sex on The Other Side. Now you know.

5:19 p.m. Only one more question. If they had to choose from everyone on the show who to kill off, who would it be? “You are awesome,” Somehalder says. “Kill Damon. He’ll go to the Caribbean,” Somerhalder insists. But nobody actually answers. “I think we all love each other. We just want to sit in a big group and sing ‘Kumbaya,'” Somerhalder says. “I would kill someone on the show. I’m not gonna tell you guys who,” Wesley says. “Yeah, I would,” Dobrev agrees. “The ‘Vampire Diaries’ panel ends on a very somber, sick note,” Somerhalder says.

5:21 p.m. Instead, Somerhalder opts to end on a sentimental note. He says it’s humbling and scary how big the crowd is. “Thank you for supporting and loving us. Even when our storylines and acting suck…” Somerhalder cracks. They all love each other and they made yearbooks last year. They all thank us.